Robben Island

/ Saturday the 4th of February was an extremely productive day. Some other girls and I visited Robben Island and then went to Noordhoek for some horse riding. These experiences were for sure something I’ll never forget.

/ Robben Island is located in Table Bay, and is South Africa’s answer to Alcatraz – this has been a place of exile since van Rieecks time. The first political prisoner, a rebellious local merchant named Áuthusmatom, were sent here in 1658. In 1760 there were 70 on the island, including several Muslim leaders. Nowadays it’s best known for its role during the apartheid era, when among others Robert Sobukwe, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and Jacob Zuma was imprisoned here. The last prisoner was released in 1996, and the island is now a museum.

/ The ferry trip last for about half an hour from the V & A Waterfront, and it gave us a stunning view of Table Bay. When we first arrived at the island we were put in buses that drove us around the island. Several times we stopped to hear stories from Robben Island Village. The small village where jailers previously lived, now consists of housing for museum employees. We also stopped at a limestone quarry where Mandela had harsh shifts. Leper’s graveyard which we also saw during the bus ride testified island’s role as a leper colony (leprosy: incurable disease) from 1856 to 1930.

/ One of the saddest sights was PAC’s Robert Sobukwe house. Here he was held incommunicado for years without any form of physical or psychological stimuli. If any of the prisoners lost their ID card there were also sent to isolation cells – often lasting for 2-3 months at a time. Our guide was a former inmate who served for 8 years, and he talked about different forms of penalties, including the electric chairs which were frequently used.

/ The visit was very touching, because we were guided by one who had experienced apartheid himself. He had known the feeling of fighting for a cause, for a human rights, and be imprisoned for this. He had known the feeling of being treated differently, not only outside the prison but also within. He had known the feeling of getting less food and different food than other prisoners only because he was colored. All this was implemented by the government in form of laws. The last thing I asked our guide about was whether he lost his ID card ever. “No,” he said. “I kept the ID card in my small chest pocket for all the eight years in prison until the day I was free.”